composting worms

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Ahem... I'm not too familiar with worms, I must confess... but where is the head and where is the tail, and what are the two darker 'blurbs' on the worm???

the head end is pointing up, exploring. You mean the two blackish things?- they are just little pieces of dirt. Here is some earthworm anatomy:
http://hubpages.com/hub/Earthworms-and-digestion

they have no brain!

[Biciclista]

Lisa
next thing you know your worms will become partners in crime with Ruby!
My mother told me that when she was a little kid one of the more exasperating jobs she had was that when a horse went by and defecated on the street, her mother would make her go out with a dust pan and brush and pick it up... for the garden.

you're not alone.

Speaking of my mother, there used to be a Donkey that lived about 3 miles from her house (this is the last 15 years) and he always defecated in the same spot, on the edge of his pasture, which was close to the side of the road. I know my mother helped herself to his droppings at least once for HER garden!

[OakLeaf]

I talked with my sister the other day and she told me she's started a worm bin.

An unexpected benefit is that it's forcing her to eat at home more. (She knows how to keep healthy, she's just very, very busy.) At first she had nothing to feed her earthworms but tea bags.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I talked with my sister the other day and she told me she's started a worm bin.

An unexpected benefit is that it's forcing her to eat at home more. (She knows how to keep healthy, she's just very, very busy.) At first she had nothing to feed her earthworms but tea bags.

I notice that too!- I find myself buying more fresh veggies and fruits and eating them, partly so I'll have special scrap treats for my wormies!
Well it's all good!
And we are making plans to put in a bigger veggie garden now in the backyard.

[uforgot]

Lisa, your worm looks like it is sporting a stylish brown derby.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Lisa, your worm looks like it is sporting a stylish brown derby.

Or a stylish cycling cap?
http://www.dirtragmag.com/merch/imag...ilamooncap.jpg
(that guy looks like he has a terrible hangover!)

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Well today I harvested my first tray of earthworm castings from my tiered worm compost bin. I really could have done it a couple of weeks ago but didn't have the time til today.

After carefully sorting out the remaining worms and returning them to the bin, I wound up with about 13 pounds of beautiful 'black gold'- pure worm castings. Looks and smells like gorgeous black crumbly forest earth- smells like the forest, too, really nice.


Every time now that I plant a new row of lettuce or radish or spinach seed in the garden, i'll work little trowelfuls of castings right in along the little seed trenches as I sow. Unlike manure, castings won't burn the seedlings. Castings are like compost but even better- more-nutrient rich, and all the nutrients are already broken down into a form that the plants can use immediately.

I'm excited! My next tray of castings should be ready to harvest in another month or so.

I've had the worm bin for about 2 1/2 months now, and it's done extremely well for me. The worms have been breeding and thriving. The worms are all now 'up to speed' and can eat more scraps than when they were starting out. I'd estimate that they consume and process about 7 pounds of kitchen scraps per week now. I hope to increase that to 10 pounds per week soon, as the many babies mature. The worms have been multiplying happily and I must have about 30% more than when I started. It's said that their population size will automatically regulate itself according to the bin size and the food supply.
The bin is unobtrusively in the corner of the kitchen, and it never smells or attracts fruit flies or anything. I guess I must be keeping the bin conditions just right.

I like that after the initial purchase of bin and worms, it becomes an essentially free way of USING kitchen garbage and old food scraps and converting it into healthy rich garden fertilizer...to help grow new fresh food!